A blog (an abridgment of the term web log) is a website usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. A blogger is a person who writes blogs (or weblogs). (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

In Vietnam, the words “blog” and “blogger” appear more and more on newspapers and televison; many people write blogs — not only young people but also the elderly and celebrities like pop-stars or actors. Nowadays, blogging has become a part of the mordern life especially for young people. Instead of writing on papers, they write it in their blogs. A blog is a place to save your feelings, memory, ideas, and to showcase your creativity.

Questions to discuss:
1. Have you ever read a blog? Do you have your own blog?
2. Imagine that you are preparing to create your own blog. What kind of story do you want to write in your blog? And what is the purpose of your writings?
3. How many hours per day do you spend on blogging? What is the role of blogging in your life?
4. Can you give some advantages and disadvantages of blogging as a social media? Can blogging last or it's just a short-time phenomenon?

As an example, have you heard about Seth Godin, his Marketing blog and the idea of "the purple cow"? (You can ask them about any specializations you're familiar with.)

What do you think about the roles of blogging in spreading new ideas — ideas that established media organizations would not pay attention to?

What differences are there between blogging and traditional ways of reporting? Interactivity? Ability to have very lively conversations?

Comparing to traditional reporting, where do you think does the editorial power reside in blogging? How about the power of censorship? (E.g. when an idea is not popular in the blogosphere, the discussion quickly fades away. On the other hand, popular discussions can live on for a long time.)

What do you think are the pros and cons of the "un-edited" nature of blogging?

Is Vietnam ready to integrate into the blogosphere? (Quite a sensitive question! But for better or worse, we've already taken the first step, and we cannot turn back.)

How do you think blogging will evolve (will it change into something else) in the next 5 years?

P.P.S. Ah… I've just realized that you may not be familiar with the term "blogosphere". It's not in any dictionary that I know of. But it's very popular on the internet. You might want to read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogosphere.

P.P.P.S. Oh… I've also realized this thread lacks the "summary". The summary paragraph will be displayed on our front page, so it's essential. I will put it up for Trung.